A Continued Success
Dr. Halsted pioneered, or was at least well known, for treating carbon monoxide poisoning, also known as Lamp-lighters disease at the time, by removing blood from a patient, shaking it to return air to the blood, the administering it back into the patient.
he had 65 students which he would run a private quiz with. Starting at around 9 at night and lasting until midnight, he would take his students on ward rounds, give lectures and anatomic or pathologic demonstrations and help the students perfect their profession. Each of his students were extremely successful and described him as a charismatic and inspiriting teacher.
In 1881, at the age of 29, Dr. Halsted’s sister gave birth to her first child, but a severe hemorrhage followed. While the doctors on hand felt that there was nothing else to be done, he arrived to perform what is widely considered the first emergency blood transfusion. He was successful in checking the hemorrhage but because of the blood loss he took blood from himself and transfused it into her. Written off as dead, his sister made a full recovery.
A year later his mother was extremely ill. When Dr. Halsted arrived he found his mother jaundiced and found that her gallbladder was tender which led to a correct diagnosis of an infected gallbladder. Working through the night with nothing more than a lamp to see, he drained puss from his mother’s gallbladder as well as seven stones. While no information is available on the outcome it appears that his mother survived.